Into The Shadows
by PavLuvsPercyJackson
Summary: Robin, the famous hero, can beat almost anyone. But who is the girl that keeps thwarting his plans, who keeps evading capture. Who is she? Where did she come from? How does she just disappear into the shadows? Not an OC, by the way! UP FOR ADOPTION!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody! I hope you like this story, though it might start out a bit slow. **

**Enjoy! :D**

* * *

Batman beckoned for Robin to follow him, treading silently through the abandoned car yard. They had reports of a robbery, and that the League of Shadows was involved. If that was the case, then ordinary policemen wouldn't have stood a chance.

Robin's tech had scanned the yard and revealed that whichever assassin was responsible had rigged the place. The car yard was a death-trap to anyone who wasn't prepared.

Ducking behind a truck, Robin whispered, "Any sign of him?"

Batman shook his head. "No, but nevertheless, we need to disarm these bombs."

The two of went off in different directions.

As Robin was disarming the last explosive on his side, and smooth voice carried itself towards him. "Hey, Boy Wonder. You certainly did that quicker than I expected."

"Cheshire." Robin was immediately on alert. Cheshire was one of the Shadows' best assassins, up there with Sportsmaster, even Ra's al Ghul himself. Her eyes shone with glee behind her grinning cat-like mask as she drew one of her three-pronged swords, a sai.

Robin flipped back as Cheshire flung the weapon, knowing that the blades were covered in poison, and even a scratch could potentially be fatal. Dodging another sword, Robin threw a smoke bomb, sending up a cloud of smog.

Concealed, Robin threw birdarangs in the direction of any noise he heard. Knives and swords came right back at him.

With a surprised gasp, Robin dodged the blades, putting his awesome gymnastic skills to use.

"ROBIN!" A familiar voice shouted from the other side of the yard, accompanied by the sound of a fight. Batman was occupied. Robin would have to take down Cheshire on his own.

"Boy Wonder?" Cheshire called as if they were playing hide-and-seek. "Come out, come out, where ever you are."

Robin lunged towards her voice, knocking her backwards with a jump-kick. "Here I am!" He said in the same tone.

Unfortunately, she didn't land on her back as Robin had hoped; she did a back-handspring before she could lose her balance, flinging a sai as she did. Robin deflected with a birdarang.

Just as he was about to throw it, it was yanked out of his hand. He watched as an arrow zipped clean through the centre and was pulled back by a string.

"Cool, souvenir," The archer said as she caught it. A girl stood on the hood of a car, a bow in hand. She was wearing black clothes, but even if she wasn't Robin would've have been able to see her face, concealed in shadows. The only defining feature, her long blonde ponytail, shifting in the wind.

She sprang backwards as Robin launched a gas-bomb at her, but she knocked it away with her bow.

"This isn't why we're here, Cheshire. Let's go." The unknown girl said, shooting a grappling hook at a nearby building. As it pulled her away from the scene, she caught Cheshire's outstretched hand, taking her alone too.

"Damn it!" Robin cursed as the two girls flew out of sight. Who was that girl? She clearly had a chance to kill him- he hadn't seen her coming- but she hadn't, and yet she was just as obviously with Cheshire. But that didn't and up, she couldn't have been much older than him, and the League of Shadows didn't hire kids.

"You let them go?" Batman demanded, snapping Robin out of his thoughts.

"So did you." Robin retorted. "Who was that?"

Batman frowned beneath his mask. "I don't know. But we'll find out."

* * *

Cheshire dropped to the roof, letting go of her little sister's hand. "I don't see why you had to ruin my fun."

Her sister rolled her grey eyes. "Oh, get over it, Chesh. We didn't have to kill them, besides Batman was gonna get there any moment."

"You're just soft." Cheshire replied, taking off her mask and tossing her wild hair back.

"Please. Don't act like you didn't love leaving Dad behind."

She was right. While Cheshire and Sportsmaster distracted Batman as his side-kick, her sister had gotten all the information they needed, as well as the birdarang-a perfect tracking tool. And of course Cheshire loved ditching Sportsmaster, that man had been nothing but cruel to her and her sister when they were kids, so Cheshire had ran away, leaving her eight year old sister to their father's mercy, to be trained as a killing machine, an assassin, like the rest of them.

"Whatever kid, let's just hope Sportsmaster can get himself out, because we're not going back for him."

Her sister laughed in agreement. "Not a chance."

Together, the two girls ran into the shadows, disappearing in the night.

* * *

**Sorry that was short. Most chapters will be a lot longer, but I guess who can just call this an introduction. **

**I hope you liked it, please R&amp;R! ;D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello guys, please review, I know you guys are reading this. **

* * *

Robin frowned at the computer screen.

"Batman, there's no record of her."

They'd been searching for information on the mystery girl from the car yard for hours; anything from a civilian ID to previous crimes, aliases or accomplices, but there was no record of any criminals that the Justice League hadn't already heard of. Either this girl was new to the business or she really knew how to cover her tracks.

Robin had taken notes an everything he'd observed from the car yard about her appearance, the weapons she used and extra skills. It was an annoyingly short list.

Batman scowled. "None? What about the League of Shadows, do they have anything about her?"

"No," Robin sighed. "And it definitely doesn't help that we don't know her name or what she looks like."

Batman leaned down over Robin's shoulder to look at his notes.

_Bow and arrow primary weapon_

_Can use grappling hook with ease_

_Long blonde hair_

_Dark clothing_

_Sarcastic humour_

"She spoke to you?"

Robin shrugged. "Hardly, she just stole one of my birdarangs."

"I'll keep looking. If she's with Cheshire, surely she'll pop up again soon."

Robin nodded, knowing it was best not to argue with Batman.

He changed into his Gotham Academy uniform and hurried back into the manor.

"Did you find her, Master Dick?" Alfred asked, opening the door for Dick to get into the car.

"No Alfred. Bruce is still looking though."

Alfred nodded and started the drive to Gotham Academy.

* * *

Artemis self-consciously tugged at her skirt, trying to make it longer.

_I hate school skirts, _she thought. She also temporally hated her mother for making her go to Gotham Academy. She thought back to last night, how she _actually _managed to stop Cheshire from killing someone, and the Boy Wonder to boot.

She didn't want to be like her father and sister, but she knew from experience how tough Lawrence was on disobedience. She and Jade would've copped it bad for leaving him behind to face Robin and Batman, except that now she and Jade were his crime partners, not his daughters. _Not like I have a choice in that matter. I can tolerate working with Jade, but not Dad. _

"Oh, you must be Artemis!" A cheery voice said. Artemis turned to see a tall blonde girl trotting towards her. "I'm Alice, I'm here to show you around."

The girl's extremely happy attitude made Artemis a little bit uncomfortable, but she tried to smile. "Great."

Alice beamed even wider-if that was possible- and started to lead Artemis towards her first class.

* * *

"How was school, little sister." Cheshire teased.

Artemis glared beneath her mask as she stocked her quiver full of handmade arrows.

"Let's just get this over with before the Justice League shows up."

Cheshire laughed. "Scared of a few heroes?"

"No!" Artemis cried. "Of course not. I'm trying to protect my identity." What kind of question was that? No way was Artemis scared of the JL. A few guys in spandex are the least scary thing Artemis could imagine. "Unlike you, I still have a life _outside _of criminal activity."

"I have a life." Cheshire replied.

Artemis scoffed and slung the quiver over her shoulders. She pulled the black mask on, leaving nothing visible but her hair, mouth and grey eyes. "Come on," She said simply, before using her grappling gun to fly to the rooftop of the building, their means of entrance. "Meet me." She called before she would've had to yell.

Artemis touched down silently, the hook recoiling itself for reuse. Artemis ducked into the concealment of the shadows, searching for the ventilation shaft. She carefully lifted the grating and swung inside, dropping like a pin. Her soft-soled boots muffled the sound of her landing.

Bringing out her bow and knocking an arrow, Artemis crept through the facility towards the side entrance, where she'd disable the security systems and let Cheshire inside for the download.

As she entered to corridor, she kept to the walls, out of the cameras' sight. Aiming above the camera, Artemis shot a trick arrow into the ceiling. Electrical currents ran through the arrow into the wires in the plaster, shutting down the camera.

Before she could move forward to disarm the locks, she heard a distinctive whistle of a projectile. Effortlessly, Artemis dodged the flying birdarang, landing in a crouch. "Well," She said silkily. "I was wondering when we'd meet again, Bird Boy."

Robin stood in the hallway. "I didn't think you'd miss me that much, but I suppose I do have that effect." He replied in an equal tone.

"You flatter yourself, Robin." Artemis leapt forward in a flip, bringing her foot down on Robin's chest.

With a gasp, Robin crashed to the floor. Artemis settled herself on his stomach, pinning his arms down with her knees. "Well, that was _way _to easy."

Robin, surprisingly, just grinned at her. "Don't count me out yet." He lifted his legs, wrapping them around her shoulders. Robin pulled Artemis off him, and she skipped backwards on the slick tiles. Robin rushed forward, and she met him in a whirl of fists. She blocked all his throws, struggling to keep the grin off her face.

She spun and did a roundhouse-kick, giving the Boy Wonder a gushing blood nose.

Pulling out her bow, she whirled around and shot Robin in the foot. The trick mechanism triggered with contact, expelling a knock out gas.

Artemis watched in amusement as Robin started to cough, staggering backwards to get out of the could. But you can't escape what's attached to you.

Eventually the gas became too much for the kid, and he fell forward, out cold.

Artemis knew what Cheshire or Sportsmaster would do in this situation. _No, you're not them. _She scolded herself. Turning away from the unconscious young hero, Artemis disabled the lock and let Cheshire into the building.

Her sister eyed the kid on the floor. "Where's Daddy?"

Artemis shrugged there'd been no sign of Batman, so either Robin came alone, or Batman was waiting to ambush them.

Cheshire kept her sais poised, and Artemis had an arrow ready for flight.

No Batman. "Odd." Cheshire muttered, before sticking a memory stick into the hard-drive and hacking the system.

* * *

"You took her on, _without me?_"Batman demanded.

Robin rolled his eyes discreetly, adding two new things to his list.

_Extremely quick reflexes. _

_Hand-to-hand combat skills. _

"You were busy."

"She was with Cheshire, and we don't know anything about her! She had the perfect opportunity to kill you Robin!" Batman exclaimed, his parental side starting to show.

"But she didn't. She's not a Shadow, we know that much. And," He brought out the gas-arrow. "I got this."

Batman, scowled, grabbed the arrow. "We can track her with this?"

"No," Robin shook his head, turning back to the computer. "She was wearing gloves, so no fingerprints. But, we can find its manufacturer."

Batman glanced at the arrow. "Maybe Green Arrow can help." With that, he left the Batcave, leaving Robin to his search.

* * *

**Eh, bad ending. **

_**PLEASEEEEEEEE**_** R&amp;R, I know people have read it. Anon and JPoohLover, for reviewing, you can have a cookie. (::) So can anyone else who review, and no I'm _not _bribing you. hehe :D **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there guys! Hope you like the new chapter**

"You got the intel, Baby Girl?" Sportsmaster questioned, making Artemis grind her teeth. She bit on her tongue to stop herself from yelling at him to stop calling her 'Baby Girl'.  
_You know that you'll cop it if you do_, She scolded herself.

Instead, she held the flash-drive out to her dad.

Sportsmaster took it, muttering under his breath, "I can't believe you didn't kill Baby Bats when you had the chance, Artemis."

"She's too soft," Cheshire purred.

_Don't. You're not soft, you're strong for having restraint_. Artemis refused to become like Sportsmaster and Cheshire, willing to kill anything with a heartbeat for money. They had no sense of decency or honour, no thought of who they effected when they murdered enemies of the Shadows.

She quickly made an excuse for not killing Robin. "He'd activated the security," She lied, hoping Cheshire didn't pick her up. "If I killed the kid, we wouldn't have the information."

Sportsmaster shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever Baby Girl."

Green Arrow studied the mystery girl's weapon intensely, holding it at eye level and examining every inch of it.

"So, you don't have any security footage of her, nor have you seen her face?"

Batman and Robin reluctantly shook their heads.

Biting back a sardonic remark, Green Arrow placed the arrow back on the table. "Well, you're at another dead-end guys. That one's home-made."

Robin ran a hand over his face.

"But that's hardly possible," Batman argued. "It's a trick arrow. It expelled knock-out gas."

"Then she clearly has resources," Oliver shrugged.

Extremely frustrated, Robin slumped down in a chair. "I can't believe this! How does she keep evading us?"

"We need a trap," Batman said thoughtfully. "We at least need to discover her identity..."

Robin stared unmoving at the café below his perch on a nearby rooftop. He was going to find out the mystery girl's identity, he was sure of it.

"Batman, have you located her?" Robin whispered into the comm.

"_Cheshire's in there. There is another girl with her, but I'm not certain it's _your _girl." _

Robin gritted his teeth. "She's not my girl."

He could imagine Batman rolling his eyes.

Robin waited, growing increasingly impatient. Finally, he spotted Cheshire and her companion rising from their seats and head to the door. "They're on the move." He whispered.

"_Good. Let's do this," _Green Arrow replied.

When the girls were out of public view, an arrow shot from the sky, planting itself into the wall in front of Cheshire. Smoke leaked out of the arrow, making the two girls double over coughing violently.

Robin leapt into action, shooting his grappling hook and zipping to the scene. Batman and Green Arrow were down there, but if they'd any hope of catching a glimpse of Mystery Girl's face, their hopes were crushed.

It seems they carried masks and weapons everywhere. When the smoke had cleared, the girl had pulled a balaclava over her face, and Cheshire had her trademark cat mask, even though Robin and Batman already knew who she really was.

"Well, well, well," Cheshire purred. "Looks like we have company tonight, little sister."

_Little sister? What? _Robin thought.

Mystery Girl pulled out a crossbow. "We'd love to stay and chat boys, but I'm afraid Cheshire and I have business to attend to. What do you say we catch up for drinks another time?"

With that, she stealthily shot an bolt in Green Arrow's direction, while Cheshire flung sais at Batman and Robin. As the three of them dodged the weapons, the girls made their escape.

Disappearing into the alleyway, they vanished without a trace.

"This is seriously getting ridiculous, Batman!" Robin exclaimed. "We're the greatest detectives in Gotham, how come we haven't found out who this girl is yet?"

Batman sighed, managing to keep his ever-calm demeanour. Green Arrow paced thoughtfully, twirling Mystery Girl's arrow between his fingers.

"Maybe we shouldn't try to ambush them as heroes. Surely Cheshire and the Shadows don't know _our _secret identities, or at least not yours." He said.

"Yes, but how are we going to find them again?" Batman questioned.

"Well," Robin said, spinning in his computer chair. "Cheshire called her 'little sister', so we just need to search Jade's file for family ties."

Green Arrow shook his head. "Jade's only family on record is Paula and Lawrence, and nothing ever been reported of another child in the family."

"Nothing in League files, no. But what about school files? Surely she goes to school." Batman reasoned.

Robin turned to his computer and accessed the student files in Gotham. "So, are we looking for Jade's last name, or Crusher's?"

Batman and Green Arrow leaned over Robin's shoulder. "Try Lawrence's."

Biting his lip nervously, Robin went to the list to the C compartment.

"There," Batman pointed at the screen. "Artemis Crock."

Robin shook his head. "But that's impossible, I go to school with her. Artemis definitely isn't a criminal."

Regardless, he clicked on Artemis's name, opening her school file. She was indeed Lawrence Crock's daughter, but she lived with her ex-criminal mother Paula, aka Huntress.

"But you were when Huntress went straight, surely she wouldn't allow the only child she had left to follow her footsteps. And Artemis has no criminal record what-so-ever."

Green Arrow shrugged. "I guess Lawrence has pulled her in behind Paula's back. You know teenagers Dick, they do that."

Robin fought off the urge to strangle Oliver when he felt Batman's piercing gaze on the back of his neck. _Why to be inconspicuous, _he thought.

"Whatever," Robin replied hastily. "we know who she is, what now?"

Artemis pulled Cheshire behind a building when the heroes were gone. "What the hell! Now they know we're related!"

Cheshire pulled off her mask and smiled. "So what?"

"They can track your criminal record for family relations, Jade! They know who I am!"

"They know who I am," Jade shrugged. "It never stopped me. It doesn't matter if they know, you obviously out skill them. And besides, when are they going to be able to confront you?"

Artemis fumed, refusing to acknowledge the fact that her sister had a point. Batman and robin couldn't try to attack her at school, or in a diner like they just had.

"At least know you don't have to worry about covering your tracks so much. It will be all the more frustrating for them if they know your identity, and they _still _can't catch you."

**Well, know Robin knows who she is. Way to go Cheshire ;D**

**Please R&amp;R**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Special thanks to Thespeedforce4 for the extra tips. I didn't even think of the fact the Paula wouldn't be able to afford Gotham Academy, but oh well. I'll try to make them longer, but I'm not sure if this should be a Traught fanfic or a Spitfire, so I'll let you magnificent people decide! :D**

Dick searched around the school cafeteria, looking for a particular blonde haired girl.

He couldn't quite believe that Mystery Girl could possibly be Artemis. Sure, he hadn't spoken to her much, she was still quite new here, but she didn't seem like the maniac type Cheshire, Sportsmaster and other Shadows were.

_We have to leave all options open, _he told himself. Artemis wasn't free of suspicion. She had all the links, and the motive. The League of Shadows paid their hitmen well, and if Artemis only lived with her ex-criminal mother, there's no way she could've afforded to go to Gotham Academy.

Dick spotted her sitting in her with Allison, the girl who was assigned to show her around. Realising he couldn't just waltz over to them, he moved to sit next to Barbara **A/N: She isn't Batgirl yet, but she knows about Robin, just because it's convenient. **

"What are you looking at?" Barbara questioned, trying to follow Dick's gaze. He quickly averted his eyes from Artemis. She was facing them, unfortunately, and she didn't seem to like people staring at her.

Dick grinned at Barbara and took a bite of his apple. "Nothing Babs."

She narrowed her eyes. "Really? Is that about 'you know who'? Have you found out who she is?"

Dick shook his head. He felt bad lying to Barbara, but he couldn't talk about their suspicion of Artemis until they were sure it was her. "Not yet, we ran into her again yesterday, but we still haven't got a glimpse of her face. She's good."

"Better than the Dark Knight?" Barbara teased, earning her a soft elbow in the ribs.

Dick had science after lunch, and, very expediently, Artemis was in his class.

He waited before going into class, knowing that one of the only spare seats left would be next to her. She preferred to sit by herself.

"Hey Artemis," He smiled, opening up his textbook.

"Uh, hi Dick." She replied hesitantly.

As discreetly has he could, Dick looked Artemis over for any similarities to Mystery Girl. Matching long blonde hair, grey eyes, athletic figure.

The teacher impatiently clapped his hands and the class came to silence. "Okay everyone, I have assigned you a project on a chosen element of the periodic table. You'll be working with the person next to you, just to make things a bit easier."

Dick struggled to keep the grin off his face. _Perfect, _he thought. _I could kiss you right now Mr Wright! _Then he shuddered at the horrific mental image.

He turned to Artemis and said, "Your house or mine?"

Her response was almost immediate. "Yours."

Dick frowned. Like that wasn't suspicious enough.

(At Dick's house)

Artemis felt weird being in the house of the one of the richest men in the country. The first thing that had ran through her mind when Dick had asked her if she wanted to come to his house to study was, _I can't let Dad get his hands on Dick, no way am I letting him into _my _house. _

Taking the ward of Bruce Wayne to the Narrows was like giving honey to a bear. The kid wouldn't last two seconds, and Artemis would get whipped by the Shadows if she tried to protect him.

"Miss Crock," The butler said to her in a posh British accent as he opened the front door. "Master Dick is in his bedroom, follow me."

The butler up a flight of stairs and through several corridors before opening another door.

Dick popped his dark-haired head up and flashed a smile. "Hey Artemis."

"Hi," She smiled slightly, still feeling really awkward.

She walked inside as the butler asked Dick if they would like anything to eat.

"No thanks Alfred."

When the door closed again as Alfred departed, Dick turned to Artemis. "What element do you want to study?"

"Uh," Artemis shifted from foot-to-foot. "I have absolutely no idea."

Dick smiled again and turned back to his desk. "Maybe we should do ununseptium."

"Only because its name is long and it makes you sound smarter." Artemis replied, smiling to.

Dick simply shrugged. "True."

(Time Lapse)

"Can we go now?" Artemis whispered impatiently.

Cheshire rolled her eyes. "When those idiots get the work done."

Black Spider and Hook were inside the jewellery store pulling a simple robbery. Artemis and Cheshire were the backup security in-case the other assassins tripped the alarm.

Artemis started playing with her arrows out of boredom.

Suddenly, a loud whirring noise filled the area.

Within seconds of the alarm, the arrow was flying at the building. It flew into the siren, cutting off the sound immediately.

Cheshire leapt off the building, Artemis at her heels. They landed without a sound, sprinting into the store.

Hook and Black Spider ran to meet them, a huge crystal in Hook's hand. Artemis fired her grappling hook and Black Spider shot a web in the same direction.

Cheshire flung a pressure sensing bomb into the store. Artemis grabbed her sister and flew along the grappling line, Black Spider, holding Hook, in hot pursuit.

As they landed on a rooftop, the bomb went off.

A wave of heat swept through the city blocks as the jewellery store burst into flames. The four assassins watched the mushroom of smoke and ashes, crackling orange flames consuming the building. No surprise to Artemis, Cheshire was grinning beneath her mask.

"Well, that was a waste of expensive jewellery."

The group spun, weapons poised.

Robin was smiling smugly at them. But it wasn't Batman with the Boy Wonder, but a group of teenagers. A black-haired boy with blue eyes wearing a black shirt with a red Superman emblem on it, a dark skinned boy with blonde hair and light green eyes, a Martian girl and a redheaded speedster.

"Oh joy, the Justice League sent their sidekicks." Black Spider sneered.

The Martian leapt at Spider, Superboy at Hook and Aqualad at Cheshire.

Both Robin and Kid Flash came at Artemis, KF spurring on the speed.

Artemis dodged the speedster and fired at Robin. "Hey Boy Wonder. How's your foot healing up?"

"Just fine, thank you," He smirked. "_Artemis._"

Artemis faltered, but quickly recovered herself. _Don't let yourself show emotion. _So instead of showing her shock, she smiled at Robin as Kid Flash stopped next to him.

"Well done," She mockingly clapped her hands. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to figure it out."

Robin shrugged. "I'm a detective."

"And yet you needed a tip-off from Chesh." Artemis's smiled broadened when she saw Robin's smug expression disappear to be replaced by a frown.

Her gloating was cut short when Kid Flash sped straight for her. He became a blur of yellow and red, and Artemis jumped out of his path before they collided.

As Artemis moved to avoid the speedster, Robin flung birdarangs at her, all of which she skilfully deflected with her bow.

KF came at her again, this time from behind. Busy repelling birdarangs, Artemis had no time to defend herself and Kid Flash careened into her, sending her flying across the rooftop.

She let out a soft groan as she landed on her back. She saw Robin and Kid Flash exchange a fist-bump before she was back on her feet and firing arrows at the two of them at rapid speeds.

Robin dodged and Kid Flash simply ran out of her range.

The two of them advanced. Knowing they were too close to use her bow, she folded the collapsible bow and used it as a bat instead. She swung at Kid Flash, nailing him in the shoulder, before jumped back from Robin's strike with a back-handspring.

Artemis attacked them in a whirl of kicks, getting them in the head, stomach, legs and the chest. She planted a solid punch to Robin's gut, and he skidded backwards.

Kid Flash grabbed Artemis around the middle and lifted her above his head. With a grunt of effort, he threw her towards the other assassins, probably in the hope she'd knock one of them out.

Artemis repositioned herself and landed on her hands, using them to spring herself back up. Her smirked at KF's awed expression, though she was impressed he was strong enough to throw her.

"You boys put up a good fight," She said when she saw Miss Martian and Superboy had taken down Hook and Black Spider. Cheshire was making her tactical get-away. "But our time's up. Until next time."

She shot her grappling hook again. With an alarmed cry, Kid Flash raced forward to catch her, but she and Cheshire had already zipped off the rooftop.

As they escaped, all she could hear was Robin's outraged cry.

**WALLY! **

**Please R&amp;R, let me now if you think this should be Traught or Spitfire :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! **

**Guys, we have a problem. There are the same amount of votes for Spitfire and Traught, so I really need you guys to vote! I give you another two or so chapters to decide :D**

Robin and the Team stared at Artemis's school profile.

With Black Spider and Hook behind bars, the mission had been called a success in the League's point of view, but Robin was more frustrated.

He finally knew who his Mystery Girl was, and he couldn't even do anything about it! He couldn't take her down while they were working on their science project, in the cafeteria, and at night she completely outclassed him.

"Alright Team," Batman's words snapped him out of his thoughts. "Congratulations on the capture of Black Spider and Hook. But, as you know, we have another problem."

Wally scoffed. He wasn't too happy with Artemis either.

"Kid Flash and Robin were fighting with an unregistered assassin last night," Batman continued, ignoring Wally. "Green Arrow and I believe there is a possibility she can be converted to our side."

While M'Gann beamed at the thought of having another girl on the team, Wally and Connor scowled. Robin understood their concern. If Artemis was Sportmaster's daughter, could she be trusted?

"As Robin can tell you, she has had multiple opportunities to kill, and yet she doesn't. She isn't a Shadow, and if she is it's not willingly. Your new mission is to catch her."

"What!" Wally and Robin cried at the same time.

"Batman, if you and Robin can't catch her-" Connor began, but Miss Martian cut him off.

"But we have superpowers!"

"Exactly." Batman nodded.

"That didn't exactly help last night," Wally growled. His stomach was still aching from that girl's kicks. "And besides, say we do catch her, what do we do with her then? Surely we can't trust her!"

"I agree." Connor said, crossing his arms over his chest.

The Team looked to Robin, the only one who hadn't really said anything on the topic. Robin looked back up at Artemis's school picture. As much as he knew that Wally and Connor were right and she probably couldn't be reliable, he didn't want to let her stay on the dark side. It seemed like a waste of potential, and as much as she joked, she didn't seem like she wanted to be there.

With a half-reluctant sigh, he said, "I say we give it a try, but we shouldn't tell her anything if we _can _catch her."

LINE BREAK

Artemis and Cheshire stood watch-guard over the transition Sportsmaster was making with a mercenary; weapons ready in case someone tried to pull a smart one on their dad.

"I don't like this, can't we just leave him if something goes wrong?" Artemis asked innocently.

Cheshire smiled. "As much as I'd love to, Ra's would kill us."

Artemis knew she was right.

Though she didn't complain, her back was killing her. Kid Flash had thrown her hard. When she reached back for an arrow, her back and shoulders screamed in protest. She was just hoping there wouldn't be any fighting tonight.

Below them, Sportsmaster handed a briefcase that was full of cash to the mercenary, in exchange for another case.

Artemis held her breath. This was usually the part where the mercenary would snatch his case back and make a runner with the money, but this guy didn't. He obviously knew what he was dealing with.

Though Artemis had been assigned as security, she didn't know what she was protecting. In fact, she didn't know what any of the information she stolen was actually for. She wasn't even sure if Cheshire knew.

Just when she started believing that this was her lucky day and there wouldn't be any violence, the mercenary pulled off his hat, revealing the hero beneath.

LINE BREAK

Kid Flash sighed in relief when Aqualad took off his disguise. He had been holding his breath, hoping Sportsmaster wouldn't recognise the Atlantian, or the fact that the briefcase was empty.

"_Guys, Artemis and Cheshire are on the rooftop. Watch out, they've got their weapons ready." _M'Gann's voice spoke in Wally's head through the telepathic link.

"_I'm on it. Superboy, help Aqualad with Sportsmaster. Miss Martian and Kid Flash, might need your help with Artemis." _Robin replied.

Connor leapt into the alleyway from his hiding spot to help Kaldur.

Wally scowled as he sprinted to the rooftop. As much as he didn't want Artemis on their team, he knew he couldn't leave her to the Shadows. M'Gann claimed she was just misguided, and needed someone to point her to the right path, and it was still Wally's job to help anyone in need.

Sadly, the crazy girl who totally beat him just a night before needed serious help.

When he reached the roof, he was bombarded with sais and arrows. He dodged the projectiles as Robin and Miss Martian came behind the two Shadows.

M'Gann's eyes glowed green and all the flying weapons fell harmlessly to the floor. Robin flung a birdarang at Cheshire who avoided it with a singlehanded cartwheel, using her other hand to throw a sai.

"I don't know if I should be flattered that you heroes are giving such an effort to catch me or annoyed that you won't leave me alone." Artemis purred, knocking three arrows at once.

They were in a Mexican standoff, Wally ready to run, Robin with birdarangs in hand, M'Gann's eyes glowing and Artemis and Cheshire with arrows and sais respectively.

"_We need to get rid of Cheshire." _Kid Flash said, preparing to run at the assassin.

"_Wait," _Robin interjected. _"We don't to get Cheshire to leave; we just need to get Artemis away from _them_. Don't forget about Sportsmaster." _

Wally cursed silently. He forgotten about Artemis's criminal dad. "Well, I wouldn't flatter myself about being a wanted criminal if I were you." He said, answering Artemis's early comment.

She smirked beneath her mask. "Luckily for you, you're not me."

Wally and Robin locked eyes across the rooftop. Robin nodded.

"_GO!" _

Kid Flash raced forward. Springing to action, Artemis fired the arrows at him, but he dodged and grabbed Artemis around the waist, carrying her bridal style.

Robin and Miss Martian held Cheshire back as Wally ran away from the block, the speed he was going at practically cementing Artemis to his chest, allowing her no one to get out of his hold. She still clutched her bow, and she managed to hit him with it, but Wally didn't let go.

Within seconds, they were too far away for either Sportsmaster or Cheshire to help her. Wally skidded to a stop and dropped Artemis roughly, having no concern for her after last night.

She glared up at him, only her piercing grey eyes visible beneath her black mask. "I guess you want to kidnap me then?"

"Maybe," Wally replied with a nonchalant shrug. "And I guess you want to either escape or hand me over to League of Shadows, because we both know you can't kill me yourself."

Artemis's death-glare was so fierce Wally wanted to curl up into a ball, but he held his ground as she stood and poked in the chest with her bow.

"Don't underestimate me. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Wally warily pushed the bow away. "We do, Artemis. We can help you."

"Help me?" She scoffed. "With what, exactly?"

Wally frowned. This girl just made things so difficult. _"Guys, do you want to hurry up and come help me?" _He pleaded mentally.

Artemis made a satisfied noise and flipped backwards, knocking an arrow and firing as she landed back on her feet.

Wally reflexes saved him from being skewered. Maybe she could kill him after all.

He started sprinting around her, becoming a blur of red and yellow. Artemis smirked as she watched him run in circles. Most people would be confused by Kid Flash's energy trail, but Artemis stepped forward at just the right, nailing Wally in the face with a right hook.

He staggered backwards, clutching a gushing blood nose, as Robin and Miss Martian arrived at the scene. Wally struggled to swallow down his humiliation at being taken down in front of M'Gann, who rushed over to check on his nose.

"Well," Artemis smirked mockingly. "This is getting a little bit too exciting for me. See ya." She flashed them a mock salute, before crushing a smoke bomb and dashing off.

Robin moved to pursue, but Miss Martian held him back. "Don't bother, Rob. She's gone."

Again.

**Eh, I'm not too happy with this chapter, but hopefully you guys like it. And please vote if you haven't already :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! **

**Okay so at the moment Traught is in the lead! I will give you guys one more chapter to decide, and the next time I update I will announce the winner. Hehehe LOL**

As Artemis fled the scene, she couldn't help but admit to herself how appealing Kid Flash's offer was.

_No, _she thought. _Sportsmaster would beat you to a pulp for even considering. Besides, what can the Justice League offer you that the League of Shadows can't? _

Artemis hated her conscience.

But, not as much as she hated Lawrence 'Crusher' Crock.

"Where have you been Baby Girl?" He exclaimed angrily as she rendezvoused with him and Cheshire.

"Just kicking Kid Flash's ass." She shrugged, trying to act nonchalant about it in the hopes that her dad wouldn't be too hard on her for baling, however unintentional it was.

Sportsmaster's brown eyes narrowed behind his hockey mask, but he let the matter go. "Whatever."

"Uh, Dad?" Cheshire said. "How are we going to tell Ra's we didn't get the case?"

"We're his three best assassins," Lawrence replied, sounding more sure of himself than Artemis felt. "He'll go easy on us."

LINE BREAK

Dick waited impatiently for Artemis to arrive.

Now that he knew she was the Mystery Girl, these project meetings were going to be considerably more awkward.

And the fact that he couldn't do anything while in his civilian ID really grinded his gears. But, eventually, he was sure Artemis would turn to their side.

"Hi Dick," His head snapped up as Artemis entered his room. "Sorry I'm late."

Dick waved the comment away. "No problem Arty."

"Arty?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Dick smiled. "Artemis is exhausting to say, so Arty."

She rolled her eyes and sat cross-legged on the floor to work on their project. Moving to join her, Dick noticed that Artemis' right shoulder seemed to be acting up.

He knew it was because of Wally throwing her across the roof, but he asked about it anyway, wondering how quick she could come up with a cover story.

"What happened to your shoulder?"

Artemis didn't seem alarmed. "Oh nothing really, I just slept on it funny. You know how that happens sometimes?"

Dick nodded. Taking mental notes.

_Good actor. Great at hiding emotions such as shock and fear. _

And her fake story was even believable.

But she had a liability.

LINE BREAK

The Team gathered in the headquarters at Mount Justice, all in their hero get-ups.

"Okay Team," Aqualad began. "We're taking another strike on Artemis tonight. We're hoping to catch her without too much of a fight. This is strictly a stealth mission."

Wally nodded and pressed the lightning emblem on his chest, changing his suit to stealth-mode and M'Gann shape-shifted in her hooded-cloak.

"So," Superboy said, turning to Robin. "You're the Gothamite. Do you know where she is?"

Robin nodded, opening up a map of Gotham on his holographic screen. "Artemis lives in this place called the Narrows, basically the slums of Gotham. It's a dangerous place, so there shouldn't be too many bystanders in the area."

"Good." Aqualad examined the map and gestured for the Team to move out.

"_Recognised, Robin. B01." _

When Robin materialised in the 'out of order' telephone-box on the streets of Gotham City, he quickly looked around to make sure no one was around before the rest of the Team arrived. At this time of night, hopefully, if Artemis wasn't with her dad, she should be at home. Sleeping, unable to put up a fight.

The was a bright light from the zeta-tube and KF appeared beside him, looking very unhappy.

"I don't like this Rob," He whispered as Miss Martian came through the tube. "What if she, like, sleeps with a knife or something?"

Robin raised an eyebrow. "I know she's an assassin, but I don't think she's _that _paranoid." He wanted to add that Artemis had kicked butt without weapons, but Wally was already ticked off as it was, he didn't a reminder of his sore nose.

Superboy and Aqualad came through the zeta-tube, interrupting their conversation.

"Robin," Aqualad said. "Lead the way."

Opening up the map again, he led the other heroes through Gotham to the Narrows.

They walked towards a small apartment block, about three stories. "I think this is it." Robin said as they walked to the back towards the fire escape.

M'Gann flew up to the top floor, her body becoming harder and harder to see as she went into Martian camouflage mode.

_She's here, _her voice spoke in their heads. _Be quiet. _

The boys carefully approached the window.

The room on the other-side was a bedroom. Two single beds were positioned on either side of the room; one occupied, one empty. Above the empty bed, a tattered old Alice in Wonderland poster hung on the wall.

A girl was sleeping in the other bed, long blonde hair splayed out across the pillow. She was facing the wall, away from the Team, unaware as they stepped into the apartment.

Robin couldn't help but feel incredibly creepy.

_How are we going to get her out without waking her up? _Superboy asked.

Wally shrugged. _Who said she had to be asleep. _And he stepped forward, clapping his hand over Artemis' mouth, using another to restrain her as her eyes snapped open.

_Quickly, _he said urgently. _Hand cuffs! _

Though he disapproved of the method, Aqualad smoothly snapped a pair of handcuffs on Artemis's wrists once KF had pulled them behind her back.

Artemis turned around, her eyes narrowing into such a terrifying glare that Miss Martian shrank back.

"Don't scream," Wally warned, before removing his hand, though he stood close in case she tried anything tricky.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She accused. It was strange seeing her without the mask. Her Vietnamese lineage showed through her skin tone and eye colour, though her hair was just like her father's.

Aqualad held up in his hands in a 'we mean you no harm' manner. "We are only here to talk, Artemis."

"You snuck into my _house_," Her eyes only narrowed further. "Don't think you're going to get away with this."

"Artemis, we can help you." Superboy ignored her, getting straight to the point.

Artemis was silent for a moment. "I don't need your help, Supey."

Robin knelt in front of her. "You have two choices; join the Team, or go to Belle Reve. Because, whether you like it or not, we've captured you now."

Instead of sneering or coming up with a sarcastic comment as Robin expected, she laughed at him. "You haven't captured me, not by a long shot. And you can cart me straight to Belle Reve if you wanna."

"You want to go to prison?" Connor raised an eyebrow.

Artemis shrugged. "The Shadows can't get me in prison, can they."

"So," Wally leapt at the opportunity. "You're scared of the Shadows?"

She laughed again. "Of course not, they can't touch me. But surely you know how they work, they will still hunt me down."

Robin knew she was right. Even if she did want to join the Team, she'd have an entire network of assassins after her head.

Artemis stood up, making the rest of them take a nervous step back. "Go ahead, take me to prison."

Glancing at each other warily, Superboy took Artemis' bound arms and ushered her to the window. She went compliantly… almost too compliantly considering her usual sass.

_Be very careful, Superboy, _Aqualad warned. _Make sure you don't let your guard down. That goes for all of you. _

They were half way back to the zeta-tube when Artemis finally made her move.

Taking them all by surprise, she turned around and whipped her leg out, sending Superboy crashing to the floor. She Aqualad advanced on her, she flipped her body backwards in the air, tumbling to the side as she landed and Robin tried to grab her.

Even with her hands tied behind her back, they couldn't catch her.

Artemis stepped back from them, a smug smirk visible on her face. "My namesake is the goddess of the hunt you know, and she can just vanish in the light of the moon. The night is her territory."

With that, she took off back the way she had come. Robin's jaw dropped as she performed a trick that had taken him years to master; she jumped high, tugging her legs into her chest and swinging her cuffed hands in front of her before she landed.

Within seconds, the hand-cuffs were thrown back at them, but Artemis was nowhere to be found.

**Hope everyone had a happy Easter! **

**Please R&amp;R! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Helloooo! **

**Some uber-smart person reviewed my story, and made an observation. Lots of the votes for Traught were guest reviews, so how do I know that someone isn't changing their name every time they vote? And I have noticed the same spelling errors from different reviewers.  
People, we have a big problem! At the moment, I am contemplating a love-triangle, because Artemis and Robin have more of a family bond than a romantic, but there hasn't been much Spitfire in the story yet. So what do you think? Love-triangle? ;D**

Artemis couldn't wipe the smirk off her face.

_Stupid heroes, _she thought. _I've been able to get out of hand-cuffs since I was five! _

Sportsmaster had taught her moves that assassins even older and more experienced than her couldn't do. She and Jade had been trained for this live since Paula had been in prison. They were trained kill machines.

Paula knew that Jade was in the 'family business', as Dad called it, but she had no idea that Lawrence had dragged Artemis into it too, and that made Artemis hate him even more. But she still couldn't join the Team, she would be killed.

And, she admitted, fighting the Team was kinda fun.

She had made it home before her father came to train her. Every morning, before her mother woke up, Lawrence came to give her some one-on-one lessons.

Artemis quickly changed out of the clothes she wore to bed-pyjama shorts and a spaghetti-strap white shirt-into a black tank top and sweatpants, pulling on her sneakers and tying her hair into its signature ponytail. Grabbing her bow and quiver out of the wardrobe, she climbed the fire escape to the roof, praying that Sportsmaster wasn't waiting for her.

She stopped in horror as Lawrence looked up from sharpening a knife. He turned his cold stare on her as she walked over, trying to even out her breathing.

_He won't beat you, _she told herself over and over. _You're important, the Shadows need you. _

"You're late." Lawrence said, his voice painfully low.

Artemis opened her mouth to apologize before her father's hand smacked across her face with such force she was sent stumbling backwards.

"Spare me excuses, Baby Girl, just get to work!"

Artemis nodded, gulping down her fear. She knocked an arrow and fired at the targets Lawrence had set up.

Without waiting for it to hit its mark, she moved on to the next one. The aim of the exercise was to hit them all in as little time as possible. Artemis somersaulted across the floor, firing arrow after arrow into the bullseye.

Sportsmaster glanced at his watch as she finished the exercise. "Good work Artemis. I almost forgive you for being late."

Artemis waited nervously for the pain, but instead looked up in surprised as she heard his footsteps walk away from her.

"Go to school. And remember, we have a job tonight."

LINE BREAK

"I can't believe she got away _again_!" Miss Martian exclaimed from the helm of the bioship.

Wally let out a frustrated huff, spinning around to face the rest of the team. "This is pointless guys, this entire mission. Artemis is a Shadow, even if she doesn't want to be there, she still can't be trusted."

"It's not about that Wally," Kaldur said. "She needs help. We can't let her go to prison, and we can't let her stay with the Shadows."

Connor frowned. "Why not?"

"For one, she's dangerous. Artemis may be unwilling to kill, but her family ties will kick in eventually." Kaldur explained.

Robin started running through possible capture scenarios in his head. They couldn't take her on the battlefield, at least not by themselves.

"Wait a second…." He said, an idea forming in his head. "We could try ambush her at my house."

"Uh, won't that give away your secret identity?" M'Gann asked.

Robin shook his head. "Here's the plan…."

LINE BREAK

Artemis walked up the stairs towards Dick's room. She'd the trip so many times that she practically knew the route by heart.

She'd become pretty close friends with Dick…. Well, closer than she'd been with anyone before, that doesn't exactly mean that they're best buds.

But she did trust the kid. That was, until today.

Artemis walked into Dick's room, and returned the smile he gave.

Dick was sitting at his desk, working on their project about ununseptium. "Hey Arty," he said.

She rolled her eyes at the nickname and sat down next to him.

They had been working for about half an hour, little said between them except for simple questions and answers, when suddenly Artemis's body was lifted from her seat and pushed abruptly against the wall.

Dick let out a yelp of fright, scrambling back, but all Artemis thought was, _Martian. _

The Team was here, somehow. Artemis slammed up her mental blocks, keeping her thoughts blank to prevent Miss Martian from reading her mind, just like Sportsmaster had taught her.

Miss Martian materialised in the far corner of the room, hovering below the ceiling.

Kid Flash zipped into the room, followed by Superboy and Aqualad. Robin was nowhere to be found.

"Artemis come quietly, please." Aqualad reasoned.

Artemis tried to move against the Martian's telepathic hold, but it was useless. "Let me GO! What did I ever do to you?!"

Kid Flash scoffed. "Richard, I need to get out of here ok?"

Artemis's eyes narrowed into the best glare possible considered her face was smushed against the wall and directed at it the billionaire boy as he fled the room.

"Put me down!" Artemis demanded.

Miss Martian's glowing green eyes faded back to their normal light brown colour, and Artemis crashed to the floor, letting out a disgruntled groan as she landed on her bad shoulder.

She silently cursed herself. She didn't have any weapons on her, and she couldn't take on four super powered heroes with just brute strength.

Her eyes falling on the desk, she snatched up the sharpest pencil and threw it like a knife before any of the heroes could react.

Superboy let out a stream of violent cusses as the pencil hit him in the eye.

Artemis dodged as Kid Flash ran forward, sending him careening into the wall.

Aqualad flew at her in a whirl of fists and kicks, and she held him off while somehow managing to avoid the pieces of furniture Miss Martian threw at her.

Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides.

Kid Flash sped over and snapped an inhibitor collar around her neck.

Artemis rolled her eyes and smirked at Kid Idiot's stupidity. She didn't have any powers to inhibit. She shifted her weight forward and Superboy flew over her back and landed on Aqualad.

And then she was falling to her knees as an electrical current raced through her body. She let out a scream before the shock stopped, but the current was powerful enough to knock her out cold.

The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was Kid Flash's triumphant smirk.

**There we are! Artemis has finally been captured! **

**Please R&amp;R :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys!**

**Hope you all like this chapter! :D**

* * *

Artemis woke up with a throbbing headache.

She tried to sit up, stifling a moan, but her wrist was pulled back. She was handcuffed to the bed.

It all came rushing back to her; Dick's house, Miss Martian's ambush, the electric shock, Kid Flash's smirk.

_Oh, I am _SO _going to kill that kid. _

Within seconds, the handcuff had fallen free and Artemis was observing her surroundings. She was in a plain white room, nothing but a bed, two chairs and a small bathroom in it. Thankfully, the bathroom was closed off from the security cameras in the corners of the room. One wall was completely bare, and Artemis suspected it was made of one-way glass.

Which meant the Team was most likely of the other side.

Artemis sent a glare straight at the wall, a glare that was beyond murderous. She gave the bird to the security cameras and entered the bathroom.

The girl staring back at her had tired grey eyes and a dishevelled blonde ponytail. Her neck was slightly bruised from the inhibitor collar. Her body ached from her impact with the wall at Grayson's.

_Grayson, _she sneered, _that little swine left me! _

And where had Robin been? Surely he wouldn't miss out of her capture after their long-running grudge.

With a sigh, Artemis splashed her face with water and went back to her 'room'.

No surprise, someone was waiting. Aqualad sat in one of the chairs.

"Artemis," He straightened and gestured at the other chair. "Can I talk to you?"

Just to spite him, she stayed standing. She leaned against the outer bathroom wall, crossed her arms over her chest and gestured for the Atlantian to talk.

Aqualad shook his head sadly, as if disappointed. "You know why you're here?"

Artemis nodded. "Don't waste your breath. If you're here to ask me to join your team again, you may as well get out."

He frowned at her. "Why are you so reluctant to let people help you?"

He seemed genuinely concerned for her, but Artemis kept her mask of independence.

"I don't need people to help me."

Aqualad sat there for a moment, before he stood and approached the right wall, opposite the bathroom. A hidden door slid open, obviously mechanical, and Aqualad stepped through without a backwards glance.

* * *

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

The Team gathered on the other side of the glass. They knew Artemis knew they were there.

In the cell, Artemis was still leaning on the wall, but now she stared at her feet.

"We need a different approach," Robin said. "She's obviously not willing to join."

Kaldur nodded. "Sheer force will not convince her to join the team."

"Of course not," Wally interjected. "A team needs trust, and I _definitely _don't trust Artemis."

"But she needs to trust us to." M'Gann reasoned.

Superboy crossed his arms. "So what, we chat it up and become friends."

The Team stared back at the Shadow. She had moved from the wall, and curled up on one of the chairs, her head resting on her knees.

"She might be a better person than we realise," Robin said, unable to tear his gaze away. Artemis looked so unhappy, almost... sad. "We don't know her entire story."

"Don't expect us to share our identities, even if she does join the Team."

"Of course not."

* * *

Artemis heard the automatic door slid open, but she didn't look up, deciding the hero didn't deserve her attention.

So she stared into space as Robin walked into the room and sat down opposite her.

"Hi Artemis," He said expectantly. Artemis saw him staring in her peripheral vision, but she still didn't look.

Robin sighed, much like Aqualad had done. "I'm not here to ask you to join the Team, okay. I just want to talk to you."

Silence.

"It won't hurt you to open up."

Artemis cracked. She turned her head to the kid and met his eyes. "I don't understand why you bother."

"Unlike the Shadows, we have compassion. We care about others."

"I had compassion once, and it almost got someone I loved killed." She cursed herself so fiercely she felt like smacking herself upside the head.

Robin's eyes widened. Artemis turned away, staring at her toes and completely ignoring the hero. After a while of useless encouragement, Robin gave up and left.

Thinking of her mother made tears prick the back of Artemis' eyes. She hadn't cried, hadn't even allowed herself to tear up, since her mom was paralysed when Artemis was seven.

She very discreetly wiped at her eyes and stood, storming into the bathroom.

Out of the cameras' sight, Artemis slid to the floor and pulled her knees to her chest, finally allowing herself to cry.

* * *

Dick stood outside Artemis' cell in shock.

He hadn't expected her to say anything to him, much less mention a family member.

The Team stared at him as he walked back into the surveillance room. Artemis wasn't in her room any more.

"What was that?" Wally asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I think the Shadows blackmailed her or something."

M'Gann followed his gaze to the room on the other side of the glass. It was another two minutes before Artemis came back into sight. Her eyes red, she flopped onto the bed and buried her face in the pillow.

"She won't suffocate, will she?" Connor asked.

Wally waved the comment away. "Nah."

"Guys," Dick frowned. "I think she was crying."

"Don't be ridiculous, Dick, she's a heartless assassin. They're, like, trained not to cry. She's probably trying to make us feel sorry for her."

Aqualad shook his head. "She's not heartless Wally, what she said to Robin proved it."

"Whatever."

* * *

**Uh, sorry? **

**I don't know what that was. And I took ages as well. I'm just too tired to live right now, please don't kill. **

**Next chapter will hopefully be a lot better, and maybe we'll get some Spitfire. **

**Yes, I know Artemis opened up (kinda) too soon. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys!**

**Sorry for another super long wait, but I really don't have an excuse. I hope you enjoy this chapter, however horrible it might be (stupid writers block)**

**;P**

* * *

Artemis mostly just spent her time in the cell either sleeping or doing some training exercise.

In a stereotypical prison movie, she knew the prisoner was always doing push-ups or something, but it helped her to relax, and she still needed to stay in shape.

The Team didn't come in to 'talk' to her for a day or so, and when they did it was Miss Martian who came.

Artemis was lying on the bed with her hands behind her head. Like she did with Robin, she ignored the other girl as she sat down in one of the chairs and tried to start a conversation.

"How are you, Artemis?" Miss M asked.

Artemis didn't respond, just continued staring at the ceiling. She longed to say yes, to talk to someone, but she couldn't.

The Martian slumped back and looked at Artemis in bewilderment, as if she couldn't imagine why she wouldn't want to be part of their little gang.

"Is there any specific reason you don't want to join?" Miss M pushed. "Is it the Shadows, your fath-"

"I am NOT afraid of my father!" Artemis exploded out of nowhere. How dare this Martian girl even suggest such a thing!

Miss M started back in shock, her eyes widening at the archer's outburst.

Suddenly, Artemis felt Miss M's mind reach for hers. Scowling, she blocked her thoughts. "And what gives you the right to invade my mind?"

Miss M pursed her lips. Defeated, the other girl stood up from her chair.

"Please, remember that we're only trying to help you." Miss Martian said before she left the room.

* * *

Dick and the others waited for M'Gann to come back to the control room after her encounter with the stubborn archer.

When she did come in, the Martian was crying. Connor jumped to his feet immediately, rushing to his girlfriend's side.

"What happened! What did she do to you?" Connor demanded.

M'Gann shook her head. "No, it wasn't Artemis."

Wally frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I tried to enter her mind, but before she blocked me out, I saw a memory..." She trailed off, but her thoughts showed what she was trying to say.

Images of Artemis being beaten by her father for every mistake she made flooded Dick's mind. He looked around at his team mates, and even Wally looked a bit upset.

"Sportsmaster threatened her," Dick says, remembering what she'd said about someone she loved almost being killed. Suddenly, Artemis didn't seem like such a crazy villain.

_No, _he scolded himself. He knew Artemis never _had _been a crazy villain.

Wally looked down at the ground. "Now I feel bad," He muttered.

"But then, if we take Sportmaster's leverage, maybe then Artemis will join us." Kaldur said hopefully.

Miss Martian nodded, wiping her eyes.

"Just let her cool off first, she still looks pretty pissed."

TIME LAPSE

The team decided Robin should go talk to Artemis.

Reluctantly, prepared for a pounding, he entered the room and sat in the chair. Artemis was already sitting in the other, and she looked away from him as he entered; just like she had every time one of them came to talk to her.

"Hey again," Robin began awkwardly.

Artemis didn't respond to him, but he'd expected nothing less. She still looked a little peeved, even though her 'conversation' with M'Gann had been about two hours ago.

But, Robin knew she could hold a grudge.

He decided to dive in the deep end. "We know what your father did to you," He said softly.

He watched her face for a reaction, but he found was a blank expression.

Artemis finally looked at him. "Sportsmaster isn't my father, no matter what the papers say."

"That's besides the point, Artemis-"

Suddenly, her eyes flared with rage. "What he did is none of your business! I don't want your pity, and I don't need your help! I can handle myself!"

"We don't pity you," Robin began but Artemis cut him off.

"Oh please," She scoffed. "Thinking you can convert me to the ways of JL, thinking you can save a young girl from a life of crime, the whole bloody thing screams 'pity case'! I was doing fine on my own, and the one person I loved was safe when I did as he said, and then you and your sidekick buddies come alone and now there's no telling what he'll do to her!"

She was on her feet now, her grey eyes full of hate and fear and anger. But Robin could see right through them, he saw the vulnerability behind it.

"Who is it, maybe we can protect her?" He said carefully.

"Sportsmaster's an assassin, idiot. There's no way you'll keep him away from his target."

"But the Justice Lea-"

"I don't frigging want their help, Robin!"

Robin sighed in defeat. "Fine, we don't to have to tell the JL, but at least let the Team try."

Artemis sat back down after a moment of silence. Her jaw was clenched so hard he would've imagined that she was trying to hold back tears, but he knew better than that.

The archer stared him down, searching his face. "Okay," She whispered, so quiet he almost missed it. He wondered how much it hurt her pride to accept help from them.

"Protect my mom."

* * *

Artemis's POV

As the Boy Wonder left, Artemis hurried to the bathroom. It was the only place she had complete privacy.

She leaned against the vanity and ran a hand over her face. _No crying, Artemis, you're stronger than that._

The Team had taken her down, surely they could her mother out before Sportsmaster got to her.

And then it occurred to her that she'd been here for a week at least.

Robin and his team may already be too late.

* * *

**Ahhh, sorry?**

**I kinda had some Traught, I guess. **

**Oh well, please R&amp;R anyways! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey! **

**Sorry for the long wait, but I had an operation and I've been a bit sore so I haven't really being doing much but sleeping ;P**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

The Team waited in the shadows of the Narrows, surrounding the apartment block where Artemis and her mother lived.

They'd been looking out for trouble the whole day, taking shifts to go back to the Cave to refresh and check on Artemis.

Kid Flash would take a lap around the house to check for intruders, Miss M would scan the area with her telepathy, Superboy was listening for anything.

KF skidded to a halt next to Robin, turning to his best friend. "Paula's still inside, and as far as I can tell the area's clean."

Robin nodded, though Wally knew he hasn't really paying any attention to him. Robin seemed more determined than he usually was, like he was trying to prove himself.

With a sigh, Wally ran to the zeta-tube; it is his turn to check on Artemis.

_This is gonna be interesting, _he thought.

After learning that Sportsmaster had been blackmailing her, it was hard to think of her as the serious threat she was. She was just a teenager like him, who'd do anything to protect her family. Wally knew if he was in Artemis' situation, he'd probably do similar things to protect his mother.

But she'd gone so far as to try and kill him, which Wally would never do.

The cave was predictably empty when Kid Flash arrived from the zeta-tube. Most of the Leaguers were off world at the Watchtower, but they were hardly there anyway except for Black Canary, Red Tornado and Batman.

Wally made his way down the hall, first stopping by the kitchen to grab a snack (of course). It was required that he stay for at least half an hour, and he was the only one who hadn't already patrolled.

He took a deep breath and opened the door to Artemis' 'room'.

The archer was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Hey Baywatch."

"Baywatch?" He questioned, slumping into the armchair. "Are we giving each other nicknames already, Blondie?"

Wally didn't know if he was expecting a reaction or not, but he was kinda disappointed when she just scoffed and turned away from him. He opened his bag chips and started throwing them into the air and catching them in his mouth.

After about five minutes of silence, minus the sound of him eating, Artemis finally sat up. "That's disgusting, eat with your mouth closed!"

Wally stopped eating for a about second, then went back to it. Artemis groaned and piffed her pillow at him.

"Hey! A guy burns a lot of calories running a few mph shy the speed of sound, okay? I'm hungry!"

Artemis rolled her eyes and started looking at the ceiling again.

Wally watched her for about a minute, but her grey eyes never left that same spot.

"What's so interesting 'bout the roof, Blondie?"

She didn't respond, acting as if she hadn't heard him.

"Look, Artemis, I can't leave for another twenty minutes or something, so I may as well try to make conversation, which would be a lot easier if you talked back."

"You're not really supposed to talk to your prisoner, Kid Idiot."

Wally sighed. "You're not a priso-"

"Yes I am," Artemis interrupted. "I can't leave, I'm locked in this room, you can't even leave me alone for ten minutes. The only thing making this situation even remotely pleasant is-"

She stopped herself quickly, biting her lip.

Wally sat up and stared at her. "What, did you just say?"

"Nothing," She replied hastily, standing up and walking into the bathroom.

* * *

Artemis cursed herself again and again.

_Idiot, Artemis, you're such a figging _idiot! She scolded herself.

A look of shock had completely covered Kid Flash's face when Artemis said it. She wanted to tell him so badly, tell _someone! _She didn't trust the speedster that much, not in the slightest, he was a jerk and an asshole, but he listened.

Which was more than her sister ever did.

They all listened, they tried to understand, but she just couldn't, she couldn't join their team.

There was a small knock on the bathroom door, and Kid Flash's voice carried itself into the room. "Artemis? Are you okay?"

She ran her hand over her face and went out to face the hero. "I'm fine."

Kid Flash raised an eyebrow at her, well, it looked like he did; you couldn't see his eyebrows under his cowl. "What were you going to say?"

"Nothing." She pushed passed him and sat back on her bed. He didn't need to know that deep down she was grateful that they'd caught her before she could become like her dad, that she was thankful for them getting her out of that hell hole.

"Fine. Whatever. Don't talk to me." He gave in, going back to eating his chips.

Artemis picked her pillow up off the floor and sat down in the other chair. "Did you find anything, at my place?" She said so carefully she was afraid that KF didn't hear her.

He shook his head. "Sportsmaster's nowhere to be found."

The speedster waited for a sigh of relief, maybe even a slight smile, but Artemis only felt dread. If he hadn't tried anything yet, then he was probably planning something horrible.

"Okay," She replied.

Kid Flash looked at a watch on his wrist. "Well, sorry Blondie, but it looks like our time is up. Hope you won't miss me too much."

Artemis scowled. "I wouldn't bet on it, Baywatch."

"Is that gonna stick, huh?" Kid Flash questioned, and Artemis responded with a shrug. "Okay then, Harpy, see ya later."

He sped out of the room.

"_Harpy?_" She growled. "Are you serious?"

She moved back to her bed (it was infinitely more comfortable than the chair), but when Superboy came in for his shift, they didn't even speak, and she found herself missing Kid Flash's obnoxious eating habits and his humour. It made her feel like a normal teenager when he acted like teenager too.

_What are they doing to me? _

* * *

**Eh, crappy ending, but I'm tired don't judge me. **

**Spitfire! YAYAY! **

**About the Spitfire/Traught thing, I have to count up the votes, but personally I am a MASSIVE Spitfire shipper, so I'm not sure if I'd write Traught as well, but there also heaps of spitfire fics out there. **

**So, if I don't write with the ship you wanted/voted for, I'm sorry, but please keep reading!**

**Please R&amp;R :D **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, I know you probably really wanted an update, so I'm super sorry but you need to read this!**

**My laptop is given to me to use by the school, and the rental term is up so I have to give it back on Tuesday! I won't have my own laptop again till next year, so I won't be able to update as often. **

**I promise I will try to write as often as I can! **

**Bye guys XD**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, I'm beyond sorry for making you guys wait for so long and still not give you all a well deserved chapter.**

**But, I've decided to put this fanfic up for adoption. I simply don't have the motivation to keep going with it, and I have too many other stories to finish. I'm really disappointed with myself for abandoning this, because I love Young Justice so much, but I've really lost ideas with this. **

**So, if any of you would be interested in continuing this for me, please PM me and let me know :)**

**Again, I'm so sorry guys, I hope someone wants to adopt In The Shadows xD**

**Thanks guys for sticking with me, even though I'm horrible at updating because I've past the point of being a procrastinator!**


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